The invention lies in the field of heated air delivery systems for vehicles and particularly heated air delivery systems for vans, trucks and buses requiring from 200 up to approximately 1,000 cubic feet per minute of heated air within the vehicle's driver and passenger area.
Present systems for delivering heated air to the interiors of vans and buses are complicated, expensive to build and to maintain, and add to the congestion existing under the dashboard of most vehicles. In addition, the heated air delivered to defrost the vehicle's windshield conventionally fails to clear the entire extent of the windshield, creating dangerous gaps in the driver's field of vision.
The failure of most conventional air delivery systems to defrost and keep clear the entire windshield results from two things, namely, an improperly designed nozzle or nozzles from which heated air is directed toward the inside windshield surface, and the requirements of other areas within the vehicle which disrupt the defroster air flow pattern and thus reduces the performance of the windshield defroster.
It is an object of my invention to simplify the supply of heated air to the interior of vehicles, especially large vans, trucks and buses.
Further objects of my invention are to provide a constant defroster air discharge pattern which will defrost the entire windshield, and to reduce the cost, weight and size of the vehicle's heated air delivery system.
Briefly put, my heated air delivery system uses a single heated air distribution compartment which is located beneath the vehicle's dashboard and is designed to deliver heated air to defrost the entire surface of the windshield and also to deliver heated air to other areas within the vehicle such as the driver's area, the driver's side mirror and the stepwell entry area.
A single elongated defroster discharge nozzle having a tapering width is located beneath the windshield at the center of the dashboard, which discharges heated air to defrost the entire surface of the windshield.
Heated air is supplied to the air distribution compartment through an opening in the bottom of the compartment. Air flowing from the opening in the bottom of the compartment circulates within a plenum chamber in the compartment where high volume air flow may be diverted to other areas within the vehicle. The primary air flow within the plenum chamber circulates past a pattern stabilizing baffle plate which forms within the compartment an elongated passageway for air flowing to the elongated tapered defroster discharge nozzle so as to provide a constant defroster air discharge pattern despite large volumes of heated air being diverted to other areas within the vehicle.